Hurricane Irene
Hurricane IreneArutz Sheva photo: Baruch Gordon

A New York rabbi was electrocuted to death while trying to save an eight-year-old neighbor boy trapped under a live cable that was downed by hurricane Irene Sunday, according to Yeshiva World News. The boy is in critical condition.

Rabbi Moshe Yosef Reichenberg of Monsey was driving when he noticed the boy trapped under the cable. He stopped his car and tried to rescue the child, but was killed by the high voltage without being able to free the child.

”It was a horrible scene,” wrote Meir Bernstein of New York’s Kol Hareidi newspaper.

Rescue teams tried to save the rabbi’s life and rescue the child but were forced to stand by helplessly for 20 minutes until electric company crews arrived to cut off the power.

By then it was too late to save the rabbi.

The stormy weather also did not allow a helicopter to land and evacuate the victims, and the child had to wait for half an hour until an ambulance was able to rush him to a Westchester hospital, where doctors said his life is in danger. People are asked to pray for Chaim Reuven Dovid ben Chava Leah.